Last Gun Alchemist

Ezra’s eyes moved constantly, scanning left, right, front, and back, his breathing steady but his mind racing as the creatures that had just attacked suddenly vanished without leaving behind even the faintest trace of movement.

The air felt wrong to him, still and empty, it was obvious the creatures were moving. The issue was that their movement was too soft to hear, but with his understanding of wind collision and sound differentiation, he did not hesitate.

The moment the flow of air shifted slightly and unnaturally...He moved swiftly.

He grabbed both girls, placing them on his shoulders and jumped backward with force, his body lifting off the ground just as three weapon thrusts pierced through the exact spot they had been standing on moments ago.

The weapons appeared out of nowhere like ghosts, then vanished again.

Ezra landed, his feet sliding slightly across the ground as he dropped the girls beside the tower wall, then immediately turned to face the front, his posture lowering, his muscles tightening.

The three creatures that attacked him, gone again.

”These things... can camouflage themselves.”

He muttered under his breath, his face tightening with annoyance as his eyes sharpened.

He had never read about creatures like this before, even nothing in the animal encyclopedia he had read in the library matched this, not even close. So, the information he needed to help him fight them was almost nonexistent.

Then...Something whistled through the air.

Instinct kicked in and Ezra raised his arm holding the dagger, deflecting multiple darts flying toward him, the metallic sounds clashing against his weapon echoing sharply, then the campfire went out.

Darkness swallowed the area instantly, the only light left came from distant torches, their glow weak and unstable.

Everything became worse.

The two girls behind him began trembling uncontrollably, their breathing uneven, their bodies refusing to move properly as fear rooted them in place.

Ezra glanced at them briefly, then turned forward again.

Cognis surged through him more, heightening his senses more than before.

He could feel it, the rush, the disturbance, the slight collision of air.

A spear thrust came from his left side. He blocked it.

Immediately, a saber slashed from his right side. He turned in fluid motion and deflected it, then another attack from the front.

He stepped back slightly, barely avoiding the edge of the blade as it passed inches from his chest.

They were pressing him, closing in relentlessly.

He glanced back at the girls and a thought crossed his mind.

Should I just leave them?

For a split second he considered it.

Then...

He gritted his teeth. ”That’s weak.” His eyes hardened as he stepped forward.

A blade appeared flashing front in his view. He kicked it aside with force, another thrust came toward his head...Ezra bent low, spinning his body and weaving through the attack, the wind of the blade brushing past his hair.

He moved back quickly, positioning himself between the girls and the invisible enemies.

Two attacks came at once...From both sides.

He blocked both in a single motion, his arms moving sharply, his body adjusting with precise timing.

Then...

Bang!

A heavy sound echoed.

A long sword slammed into the ground in front of him and Veda landed, smooth.

In one motion, he pulled the sword from the ground and blocked an incoming slash, sparks bursting outward as steel collided, then followed it up with a sharp kick that sent the attacking creature sliding back, without pausing, he took out a lighter. Flicked it and threw it toward the campfire.

The flame caught again and light returned.

Flickering and revealing as the shadows shifted unnaturally.

The four creatures blended back into the darkness again.

”I’m sorry I’m late.”

Veda said, his voice calm, but his eyes already scanning the surroundings.

His gaze moved to the trembling girls, then to the three boys. Dead.

”Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue, his expression darkening.

”This crazy family... they actually brought Kalians.”

”Kalians?”

Ezra asked, not taking his eyes off the shifting shadows.

”They’re one of the most dangerous monsters listed in Britannia.”

Veda replied quickly.

”They can camouflage themselves in both darkness and daylight. They are apex hunters, and to make it worse, these ones are equivalent to Binder rank alchemists in physical strength.”

”Any weakness?”

Ezra asked immediately.

”They don’t have thick skin...”

Veda replied immediately.

”But don’t take that lightly. Fight them like you would fight trained humans...their combat ability is high.”

Both of them shifted their stance slightly.

Eyes moving quickly to corners and side, listening and waiting for the Kalians to make their move.

”Then why weren’t creatures like this recorded in any encyclopedia?”

Ezra asked as he cracked his fingers, feeling the numbness from repeated clashes, then reached into his space bag and pulled out his Glock 17.

”You could say that was intentional.”

Veda replied as he took out a Big-4barrel revolver.

”As expected,” Ezra said plainly. ”Did you inform the others about the third wave?”

He turned his head slightly, sensing movement from the right.

”No time.” Veda replied, then glanced at the girls again, noticing they hadn’t moved since, just shaking and staying still since.

”Tsk... they’ve been affected.”

”By what?”

Ezra asked.

”Kalian bloodlust.”

Veda said.

”It’s another feature they have. They can sense weak prey and paralyze them using blood lost if you meet their gaze. That’s why they can’t move. It’s almost like they’ve been put in an illusion.”

Ezra’s grip tightened slightly.

”Do you think we can fight comfortably while protecting them?”

He asked flatly, even now...He was still considering abandoning them.

”Obviously.” Veda replied without hesitation. ”Don’t worry. I’ll lead, since I know how to fight the Kalians more than you”

He smirked, jokingly.

”Ah...” Ezra stared at him. ”...Whatever you say.”

The next moment Ezra said those words...

They moved.

Ezra stepped back while Veda stepped forward.

Both turning in opposite directions.

A spear shot toward Ezra...

He raised the Glock and deflected it, then spun his body and threw his dagger, but the Kalian smacked it away instantly.

At that exact moment...Ezra fired.

Bang! Bang!

The Kalian holding an axe, about to strike the girls, jumped back high before vanishing, avoiding the bullets.

They can jump that high...

Ezra noted in his mind.

Veda blocked a blade slash with his sword, then pushed the Kalian back and immediately leaned aside, avoiding a clawed strike aimed at his side.

The Kalians vanished again, but before one fully disappeared...

Ezra acted; he yanked the thin rope attached to his dagger.

The blade shot forward...

Piercing into the Kalian’s leg, then he pulled hard, Cognis enhancing his body, but the creature didn’t move.

It held itself in place while invisible.

”Shit...”

Ezra muttered.

The next second...

The Kalian yanked him instead, throwing him into the air and it ripped the dagger free...

And hurled the spear at him.

Mid-air...

Ezra twisted his body, firing multiple shots downward, forcing the creatures to block, then threw another dagger into the barricade or the wall, which rapped itself on it and pulled himself back using the rope attached to it.

He flipped in the air, then drove both legs forward...

Kicking the Kalian into the wall, the impact echoed.

Loud.

”Nice one, Ezra!”

Veda shouted as he weaved through multiple attacks, then suddenly grabbed one Kalian, the one using metal claw gloves by the arm and threw it toward Ezra.

Ezra stepped forward and struck its stomach with his palm.

The force made it spit out yellow saliva.

Immediately...

He bent down, a spear shot past him, returning to its owner.

They can control their weapons too...

He noted again.

Ezra placed his palm briefly on the ground. In his mind, the wave moved, slight vibrations were caught coming from his front, back and right side.

Three, incoming.

Without panic...

He pushed more Cognis into his body and reacted instantly, drawing both Glock pistols and blocking attacks from multiple directions, each strike appearing and disappearing just as quickly.

Veda was handling two of the Kalians at the same time, his sword moving in controlled arcs as he blocked, redirected, and countered their attacks, while the creatures moved with unnatural coordination, appearing and disappearing between each strike, making it difficult to pin them down or predict their next movement.

Neither side had the advantage.

Not yet.

But as the exchange continued, as steel clashed against steel and the ground beneath them shifted with each step and impact, it became clear that both Veda and Ezra were slowly beginning to gain the upper hand, their movements becoming sharper, more precise, their reactions faster as they adapted to the creatures’ rhythm.

Then...

Something changed.

A sound.

Faint at first.

Then...

Louder and more.

Shouting, crying and panic.

The noise came from the front side of the castle.

Veda’s head turned instinctively in that direction, his focus shifting for just a fraction of a second as he tried to understand what was happening.

That moment...

It was enough.

A Kalian seized the opening immediately, rushing forward with speed, its body appearing mid-motion as its fist drove toward Veda’s chest.

But Veda reacted.

Even with his attention split.

He stepped back just enough, the attack missing by a small margin, then twisted his body and drove a kick forward, his foot slamming into the creature and forcing it backward, though the Kalian managed to block part of the impact with its arm.

Then...

Silence.

The four Kalians stepped back at the same time.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Their bodies became visible again as their mouths stretched into wide, unnatural grins.

”Krik... Krik...”

The sound came out low. Mocking.

As if they were laughing.

Veda’s expression tightened.

Conflicted.

His eyes moved briefly toward the front again.

The noise there...Was getting worse.

Louder and painful to hear.

”Veda! You have to go!”

Ezra’s voice cut through the tension sharply.

Veda turned his head toward him. His jaw clenched, his mind racing.

Kalians do not move in large numbers, but they do hunt in units.

Four.

Which meant...

The four in front of him should be the entire group here, but...

There was another one.

At the front of the castle.

And if he and Ezra moved together...

They would surely bring these four with them and it would make things worse.

Much worse.

Because whatever was at the front...

Was already causing panic, which meant...

It wasn’t normal.

One of them had to stay, but staying was almost the same as choosing death.

Because handling four Kalians alone, each one with strength equivalent to a Binder rank alchemist enhanced with Cognis, was not something anyone could confidently say they could survive and the one at the front...

Might be even worse.

Veda’s thoughts collided one after another, his decision delayed by just a few seconds as the screams of his members grew louder and more desperate.

”Veda!”

Ezra stepped forward and smacked his back, the impact snapping him out of his thoughts.

”Go.”

His voice was firm, clear and serious.

”From the sound of it, and from what I can sense, there’s only one there.”

Ezra continued, his eyes locked forward, still tracking the unseen movements around them.

”That means it’s something worse.”

He pointed toward the front.

”So, go. Your people need you.” A brief pause. ”I’ll handle things here myself.”

There was no hesitation in his voice, no doubt or shred of fear.

Veda stared at him for a moment.

He knew Ezra was strong, but...

Was he strong enough?

Enough to handle four Kalians alone?

Creatures that fought like trained hunters, that moved like shadows, that struck without warning, that could vanish and appear at will?

His grip on his sword tightened, still conflicted, but...

The screams, the noise, his people.

”...Tch.”

He clicked his tongue, then nodded.

”Good luck.”

Without wasting another second, he grabbed the two girls, lifting them with ease, then turned and dashed toward the front at full speed, his figure disappearing into the snow-filled distance as he pushed his body forward using every bit of strength he had.

Ezra watched him leave, then exhaled slowly.

”...Now.”

His eyes darkened slightly as his focus sharpened completely.

”You bastards waited for him to leave, didn’t you?”

He spoke calmly, even though nothing was visible. It was almost like he was speaking to the air.

”And I’m guessing you already knew your leader would appear at the front, so you planned this.”

His voice remained steady.

”I wonder how long you’ve been scouting this place... figuring out where people were stationed, identifying who was the strongest, and then setting up a way to draw him away so your leader could handle the others.”

A faint smirk formed on his lips.

”At the same time... draining his strength.”

He shifted his stance slightly.

Balanced and grounded.

”But I guess...”

His grip on his guns tightened.

”You didn’t expect me to send him away myself.”

The air shifted.

And then...

One Kalian appeared.

Right in front of him, then another, then the rest.

All four.

Standing, grinning, watching him as they surrounded Ezra.

”Funny thing is...”

Ezra lowered his center of gravity, his feet pressing firmly into the ground as Cognis flowed through his body, enhancing every muscle, every nerve, every sense. Tighten his grip on the two Glock 17s.

”I fight better when I’m alone.”

The next instant...

All four Kalians moved from different directions.

Fast, silent and deadly. Vanishing and appearing as they ran towards him continuously.

”Come.”

Ezra stepped forward.

Fully focused and ready.